Air Force Academy – An Air Force second lieutenant testified Saturday that she was raped by a fellow Air Force Academy cadet after a night of heavy drinking during a cadet diving-club field trip to New Mexico.
The woman testified in the fifth day of the court-martial of senior Cadet Benjamin Kuster, who is charged with rape and commission of indecent acts. Kuster is accused of raping the woman May 2, 2004. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
The alleged victim said the club’s Air Force chaperone, Maj. Mark Michalicek, bought champagne at dinner to celebrate her completing four years as a member of the club.
After more drinking, she said, she and Kuster’s girlfriend, Katherine Ivey, surrendered to the entreaties of male cadets to kiss on a motel room bed. Kuster joined them, and all three kissed. After more drinking, the victim, Ivey and Kuster went to Kuster’s room and went to sleep on the floor while other cadets slept on the bed.
“I remember waking up and somebody was on top of me and inside me. I was pretty shaken. He leaned over and kissed me, and I knew who it was,” the woman said.